Two Weeks!

Yesterday was the two week marker until the day I leave for Ecuador, and it's finally hitting me what I'm about to do. It seems so unreal that, starting in just two short weeks, I won't see my friends and family for a year.  I probably should have come to terms with this a while ago, but I still find myself repeating in my head: "I'm going to live in Ecuador. For a year."  There are other exchange students I know that are already abroad, and I worry that I'm somehow illigitimizing (is that a word?) the amazing journey they've already had by making a big deal out of a two week countdown, and I apologize if it seems like I am.  It just seems like everything up until recently has been theoretical, but when I started getting gifts for my host families and packing, the whole imminence of it became so much more tangible.
Along with the disbelief, though, comes what I hope is a normal amount of nervousness and just so. much. excitement.  Ecuador seems like a beautiful country and, judging by google images, so does my city.  Additionally, my family seems lovely and I'm psyched to finally be able to meet them.  About my family, by the way.  My host father's name is Hector, and he's a doctor.  My host mother is Eva, and she's a dentist.  I have two brothers and a sister, but both brothers are all grown and moved away.  My host sister, who I've spoken to the most, Anita, will be leaving on exchange to Texas two days before I arrive.  So, if you've been keeping track, you'll realize that that means I'll be the only child.  I'm a little nervous that I won't have any predetermined friends, but I think it means, as selfish as this is, that my host parents with have more time and attention to spend with me.
So there you have it. I'll try to post some (but, of course, not enough to distract me from my adventures) once I get to Ecuador, and hopefully pretty regularly from then on. Oh, and another thing to be excited about: photos!